My Label Designs for Sky Valley Foods – Asian Sauces

Since 2013, I have had the honor of doing label designs for Sky Valley Foods (formerly Organicville) for their organic sauces and sodas. It has been an interesting process and I have learned a lot. In this article, I will focus on those designs made for their line of Asian sauces.

The label designs always center around a specific animal, and are drawn with pastels. I try to make the designs fun, colorful and interesting. The animals are eye-catching on the shelf. Many people compliment on how much they like the animals on the labels! I also love that my original artwork appears on supermarket shelves across the United States. How cool is that? Every time I go into a Whole Foods, Sprouts, or other store that carries these products, I always get excited to see my designs sitting on the shelf. It has provided a unique opportunity for me. I get to earn money doing these label designs and I get the experience that comes along with it.

You can also see all of these designs and more in my Label Designs Gallery. New designs and sauces are being released frequently, so this is not a complete list.

Jade Foo Dog – General Tso Sauce – Sky Valley Foods

The Jade Foo Dog was decided as the design for the General Tso Sauce. Foo Dogs are actually not dogs at all; they are symbolic representations of lions (also called shishi). They are present throughout Asian culture, often adorning temples as guardians.

This Foo Dog was drawn with pastel pencils on pastelbord in late 2015. For this design, they wanted the Foo Dog to look as if it was carved out of Jade. The design was based loosely on the Ming Dynasty foo dogs guarding the entrance to the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.

From the Sky Valley Foods website: Sky Valley’s Organic General Tso sauce combines the highest quality organic tamari with ginger and garlic. This sweet and savory sauce adds a delightful heat to all your meals! And naturally Sky Valley’s General Tso sauce is non-gmo, certified organic, gluten free, vegan, and tastes great too!

Chinese Azure Dragon

The Chinese Dragon was chosen as the design for the Teriyaki Glaze and Marinade. The dragon is a ubiquitous symbol throughout Chinese and Asian culture. They represent power, strength and good luck. They are symbolic of the emperor, and they have the power to control water.

This original drawing was done in 2008. It is one of only a few label designs that were drawn previously, and not exclusively for the sauce. The commissioned liked the design so much they wanted to use the existing one rather than have me redraw it.

The tiger was chosen as the animal for the Korean BBQ Sauce. In addition to the dragon, the tiger is another common symbol throughout Asia. They represent power, protection, and good luck.

This tiger was drawn with pastel pencils on black paper in 2013. I wanted to imitate the tigers that are often seen on wall scrolls and ink paintings in China and Korea. They usually depict a powerful image of a tiger descending from the mountain.

The animal chosen for the Plum sauce is the Mandarin Duck. These vibrantly colored ducks are native to China and Asia. The males are a rainbow or bright colors. They symbolize fidelity in Chinese culture.

This duck drawing was done with pastel pencils on black paper in 2013. They are already super colorful birds, but I added some embellishments to stylize it.

The Singha was chosen for the Sweet Chili Sauce. The Singha is a mythical winged lion creature found throughout Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia and Thailand. They are often portrayed as temple guardians.

This original drawing was done in 2009. It is one of only a few label designs that were drawn previously, and not exclusively for the sauce. The commissioned liked the design so much they wanted to use the existing one rather than have me redraw it.

The elephant was chosen for the Thai Peanut Sauce. Asian elephants are sacred animals in Buddhist culture, and represent strength and wisdom. This elephant was drawn with pastel pencils on black paper in 2013. I wanted to use an unusual color so it would stand out, so I chose purple, with gold and red adornments.

About This Blog

Welcome to the blog for Psychedelic Zen. In this blog are featured articles written by the artist, Rebecca Wang. These articles are on a variety of topics involving art, ranging from news about her recent art pieces, artwork in progress, featured products from her many online stores, and opinion articles about the art world.